Just when it seemed Elvis Costello couldn't possibly have any new tricks up his sleeve, along comes this double-disc set to reconfirm his status as the most cunning musical magician of the past quarter-century. Treating these two discs as a set is, though, like saying a tricked-out T-bird and a Bentley are the same because they happen to be parked side-by-side in a double-car garage. As distinct as they are individually inspired, they serve to explain, says Costello, "what I've been doing during the last 12 years when I haven't had an electric guitar in my hands."

The first disc finds Costello playing live in the Hague in the company of the 52-piece Metropole Orkest, performing musical alchemy while slipping in and out of various guises. There's Elvis a la Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon's "Girl Hunt Ballet," scouring a kaleidoscopically hip underworld with "Hora Decubitis" (just one example of his fitting of lyrics to Charles Mingus compositions). There's Elvis tapping his inner Louis Prima on a jump, jive 'n' wail "That's How You Got Killed Before." There's Elvis the latter-day Tropicana headliner, shaping "Clubland" as a stomach-churning rollercoaster of a Latin waltz. There's Elvis channeling a boppin' Elliot Ness chasing long-legged dames through the 'round-midnight fog of "Watching the Detectives." There's Elvis paying dazzling homage to Duke Ellington (whose landmark soundtrack for 1959's Anatomy of a Murder is cleverly mirrored in the album's cover art) with the smoking-gun title track, adapted from Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count." There's Elvis the Sinatra-worthy crooner, stripping away all artifice for nakedly profound readings of "Almost Blue" and "God Give Me Strength."

Then, turning the tables a full 180 degrees, there's the companion disc, featuring a 45-minute suite from Il Sogno, Costello's first full-length orchestral work. As fairy-tale gossamer as the first disc was angularly gutsy, this rich reimagining of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, originally commissioned by the classical Italian dance ensemble Aterbaletto, is sure to perplex and bemuse Costello fans whose appreciation of his shape-shifting genius began with My Aim Is True and ended with Trust. Instead, I simply see it as further proof that, as the ever-provocative father of inspired reinvention, Elvis is king.

I just love having an EC official live release. Is it going to take the place of Trust in my top 5? Definitely not, but having seen the man several times and being used to all the chances he takes live with his repertoire, I think this album hits the spot.

It's not going to make my top 15. But none of his non-rock discs cracks my top 15. I'll listen to this a lot more than Il Sogno, North, or Juliet Letters (and much more than For the Stars and Painted From Memory, neither of which I own anymore). But that doesn't mean I like it better than even Mighty like a Rose or Spike (both of which I like a lot, but don't adore). I might listen to MFBB more often than Punch the Clock, though.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--William Shakespeare

King Hoarse wrote:My theory: the mechanical royalty for the composer of a classical work is MUUUUCH higher than that of a pop writer so I think it's a cash-in to get symphony tours financed and whatnot. This way Elvis will get a lot of highbrow dollars from lowbrow comsumers who wouldn't have paid for a standalone score.

But why would Deutsche Gramophon want to be paying higher royalties to him as a result of this extra disc? Doubly shooting themselves in the foot financially. Surely as a free extra CD it wouldn't be considered as part of the royalties equation anyway? I think the tour tie-in is probably the only explanation, but it still seems odd. And wouldn't it have been nice to have a version to compare to the original?

King Hoarse wrote:But why would Deutsche Gramophon want to be paying higher royalties to him as a result of this extra disc? Doubly shooting themselves in the foot financially. Surely as a free extra CD it wouldn't be considered as part of the royalties equation anyway?

Mechanical royalties are based on pressings, not sales, so the fact that it's a 'bonus' disc doesn't really matter, just its length and 'style/genre;' it's definately part of the royalties equation. You get it for promos etc too.

I think Elvis gets looser reins in general because he sells more than DG's average artist and therefore has quite a lot of artistic freedom. I would be extremely surprised if this particular bonus disc was the record company's initiative.

Besides, more sells more. As someone's already written, the bonus disc might be the drop that makes some indecisive buyers go for the live album at this point & they'll be separated again when they're considered catalog titles so later consumers will have to pay twice when there are no lists to climb etc.

An irritating parenthesis: (I bought MFBB in Japan to get the Dust bonus track and was really annoyed to find that it was basically double cd priced/almost twice the price of its Dust-free imported cousins, and considerably harder to find, even in big chains like HMV or Tower. I'm told that the pressing and distribution of Japanese cd's is much more expensive than importing them. There are also plenty of records that Japanese labels refuse to release unless they have bonus tracks - my avatar is one - or no one would buy them. THEN WHY NOT IMPORT THEM AND HAVE MORE PEOPLE BUY THEM CHEAPER???)

Elvis Costello's virtuosity in nearly every genre of popular music is a mind-blower, and a feat unmatched by any of his contemporaries over the last three decades. Rock, pop, country, jazz, orchestral, Burt Bacharach (surely a genre unto himself) — the ambitious Costello has explored it all, delivering definitive songs and/or performances in nearly every field.

"My Flame Burns Blue" combines elements from Costello's entire career, with results that run the gamut from dazzling to the merely curious. A spectacular lushness is its strength. An off-putting seriousness is often its downfall.

Recorded live at the North Sea Jazz Festival with the Metropole Orkest, an astonishing jazz orchestra from the Netherlands, the album finds Costello reimagining some of his classic material, debuting unreleased songs and putting lyrics to instrumental pieces composed by Charles Mingus and Billy Strayhorn.

Everything else is hit and miss, mostly because Costello's lyrics don't scan well in a jazz context. "Clubland," from "Trust," is a schizo mix of Latin rhythms and circus music. "Watching the Detectives," the oldest song here, becomes a noir-light rave-up that robs the words of menace. "Episode of Blonde" can't decide if it's being re-worked or just a puffed-up version of its usual self.

A second disc with a suite from Costello's 2004 orchestral piece, "Il Sogno," enhances the package. Presumably included so skittish fans might hear it for the first time, it's actually more coherent than "My Flame Burns Blue" and a worthy listen.

Jeffrey Lee Puckett is SCENE's pop music editor and oversees this page.

One does not have to neiden world-famous musicians their work everyday life. Also the Rolling Stones suffocates in routine. Rise, coffee, purely in the stadium, "Satisfaction" play, end of workday beer, light out. And for more than 40 years. Reliably the Stones of their occupations is tired, knows however that they may be glad, to have at all still another job. Skirt in naked fear of life. The more grimmiger the envy, which each work proof now already longer of the Elvis Costello active in the industry schuert. It supplies, which it wants and which prepares obviously fun for it. Even to the annoyance of the people, which bought its first plates before 30 years. That is all the same to it. Procure themselves the albums evenly different.

Costello makes music for classical period friends or Folkloristen, Jazzfanatiker or then nevertheless again for Altpunks. One must imagine the Britisher as content humans, who sit up hat and eyeglasses, jump omitted on the stage and decide like an eternal child spontaneously, what it plays. After Punkrock, Shakespeare Liederabenden, salon music, jazz miniatures, Songs with Anne Sofie of Otter and Orchesterkitsch publishes Costello now the Mitschnitt of an appearance with the North Sea jazz Festival 2004. With metropolis the Orkest. At a classical period company. There is Big volume Freudentaenze around more well-known Songs of the singer, around pieces of Charles Mingus or Billy Strayhorn. "the admission shows, what I made in the last twelve years, if I did not have a straight e-guitar in the hands", say Costello. Hardly sounds oneself after work.

Deutsche Grammophon has released some new streams from their recent release of Elvis Costello's My Flame Burns Blue. The release features a live concert album recorded at The Hague with the Metropole Orkest, as well as a bonus disc with a forty-five minute suite from Il Sogno, his first full length orchestral work.

The album features many Costello favorites like "Almost Blue," "Clubland" and "Watching the Detectives" along with Costello compositions seeing release on record for the first time. The album also includes a Charles Mingus composition and a Billy Strayhorn song with Costello's lyrics.

You can check out three of the streams: "Watching The Detectives," "Almost Blue" and "God Give Me Strength."

i'm enjoying it quite alot. a pleasant surprise how tasty it is. elvis is clearly having a great time and in spectacular voice. after listening to him suffer through at least the latter portion of TDM tour, it is nice to hear new sounds full throttle, even if they are from 04. though serviceable, the metropole orkest is personality-challenged which hampers the excitement and drama a bit. the chorus of clubland is excruciating and the words and music of WTD so oppose as to make it sort of laughable, but the balance is great. episode of blonde works tremendously and reminds what a rebirth of snottiness and hard work WIWC was. the mingus opener is splendid, that's how you got killed before couldn't be any better and everything slower he just nails. and man i like how he leaves it all on the table with god give me strength.

When Rhino bundled every album of Elvis Costello's entire catalog with a bonus disc that collected up every conceivable outtake, b-side, demo and live cut, it left even diehard fans who followed Elvis through every genre jump with the feeling that maybe they've heard enough Costello for one lifetime. On those first brilliant albums on which his renown still rests, there was the added thrill of a guilt-and-revenge persona that made each new musical detour seem bigger than just dabbling. Every record was an event because it was building a mystique. Brilliant as some of the later albums were, without the mystique they came off as the craftwork of a mere musician.

This big-band live disc might seem no different as it includes Costello's post-analysis liner notes and bonus excerpts from that Il Sogno ballet you might not have avoided because of your sick need to hear every version of "Watching the Detectives."

If you reached a Costello saturation point ages ago and skipped his torch ballad album North, you wouldn't have noticed the expansive breathing space he allows musicians now, from the swinging Quincy Jones-ish opener "Hora Decubitist" to the jazzed-up version of "Watching the Detectives" to the extended solos on "Almost Blue" to the only slightly embellished but still forceful "God Give Me Strength." There are occasional spills: "Episode of Blonde" still sounds like a mess, an otherwise sizzling salsa retread of "Clubland" is ruined when it lapses into Kurt Weill waltz time and "Speak Darkly My Angel" sounds like Elvis is vying for Andrew Lloyd Webber's level of annoyance. But it holds together surprisingly well for a career overview that omits the Attractions' rhythmic contributions. As for the ballet, it was enjoyable in a Carl Stalling sort of way. But in truth, the only time my ears really perked up was when "The Conspiracy of Oberon and Puck" ripped off the vamp from "On Broadway."

Elvis Costelloâ€™s two-CD My Flame Burns Blue arrives on the esteemed Deutsche Grammophon classical label. The first disc contains a live concert featuring Costello backed by the Metropole Orkest. The intimations of music for the ages are more than clear.

There are some truly masterful moments on My Flame Burns Blueâ€”delectable mood pieces like â€œFavorite Hour,â€

Elvis Costello has liberally peppered his career with eye-raising stylistic excursions made on creative whims; departures into soul (Get Happy!!), country (Almost Blue), Tin Pan Alley (Imperial Bedroom), and roots (King of America) had all been realized in less than ten years after his professional debut. Still, despite acclimating his audience to his finicky, muse-driven impulses, many were taken aback upon the release of 1993â€™s The Juliet Letters, his classical song cycle collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet. Perhaps it was a musicianâ€™s mid-life artistic crisis that drove him to so radical (and in some cases, alienating) a choice. After all, artists at middle age face that Catch-22 fork in the road that compels them to either recycle old habits or strike out in strange new territory. Naturally, Costello chose the latter; heâ€™s never acquired the taste for predictability.

In hindsight, The Juliet Letters holds up as probably his most successful (certainly his most intriguing) foray into either the classical or jazz world. Subsequent attempts to reinvent himself as a balladeer or jazz singer have been less adventurous and more posed, like applications to canonical academia. Ever since The Juliet Letters, roughly every other release affords Costello his more genteel indulgences (including collaborations with Burt Bacharach and Anne Sophie von Otter). Such a creative strategy was made all the more indefinite with his signing to Deutsche Grammophon earlier this decade. The label has taken charge of his non-rock endeavors, which so far have included an album of noirish torch songs (North) and a classical score for an Italian ballet (Il Songo).

My Flame Burns Blue, his third release for Deutsche Grammophon, features a live performance from the 2004 North Sea Jazz Festival with the Netherlandsâ€™ 52-piece Metropole Orkest. Itâ€™s a roleâ€”the guitarless, persona-free big man with the big bandâ€”that Costello has found himself slipping into with increased frequency as of late, naturally recalling his father, Ross MacManus, and his tenure as featured vocalist for the Joe Loss Orchestra. Though Costelloâ€™s choice of material is typically enticing (in addition to his originals are Charles Mingusâ€™s â€œHora Decubitisâ€

If you don't know what is wrong with meThen you don't know what you've missed

Well, I can see both sides on this one - mostly because only about half of the album is really grabbing me. 'Clubland' is execrable, maybe the worst thing EC has committed to disc in recent years: a great example of him actually being guilty of what hostile critics charge him with, namely losing the forest (good songs) for the trees (scholastic complexity and self-indulgent genre-hopping). WTD similarly flops. 'Almost Blue' - a nice job, but completely unnecessary. And 'Upon a Veil' just isn't as good a song as EC seems to think (how come he didn't take Charles Brown's hint?), while 'Speak Darkly' is more of that pious faux 'classy' story-telling that EC irritatingly drops into these days, and ultimately fails to move.

Everything else is pretty damned cool, though. I actually prefer this version of 'Episode of Blonde': he's in much better voice than on WIWC, and it's funkier (the voice thing is true of 'God Give Me Strength' too - but then, I always found EC's voice more powerful in concert than on studio records). Similarly, 'Can You Be True', one of his lushest and most beautiful melodies, an underrated masterpiece, actually benefits from this more fulsome arrangement. 'Almost Ideal Eyes' simply smokes, whatever its technical glitches. And kudos to the rest too.

A love letter to the fans, really: not a major release, then. And cranky critics shouldn't make so much out of a recording of a flawed but fun night of music. Save the vitriol for real stinkers like WIWC!

Last edited by Poor Deportee on Wed May 10, 2006 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones

I put on MFBB by mistake today, thinking it was going to be River In Reverse. My GOD it's an exciting album. Not only is it worth its price for the sound of the low horns alone...his voice is in the finest of shapes on most of it. The Favourite Hour vocal in particular moves me a lot. And the sheer scope of the album...It's amazing how it can maintain a mood of its own while swinging through that many genres. No one else I know could pull off a record like this, except maybe Rufus Wainwright in another twenty years. It's good to be reminded that it's such a blessing to follow Elvis every once in a while. Now I wish I had the money to go to Amsterdam.